We’re told automated cars will make the roads “safer.”
Well, they just might – in the same way that filling in the deep end of every swimming pool in the country with concrete would reduce drowning deaths. Better to teach people to swim – and keep those who can’t out of the pool.
It’s not a very high standard.
Automated cars certainly won’t make driving safer for those who can.
What they will do, of course, is make the roads slower – and trips take longer.
For everyone.
Think of a Roomba plodding clumsily around your living room, cautiously probing before proceeding – and then proceeding very slowly – and just like every other Roomba.
Automated cars will work like the Roomba – a brainless robot that operates within the confines of its programming – with you along for the (long) ride.
To understand why the Great Slowdown is coming – if automated cars ever do – perform the following experiment: When you next drive to work, mindlessly obey every traffic law to the letter. Never exceed the posted speed limit – not even for the moment it takes to get up to speed.
Wait, robotically, until the coast is clear – for at least 100 yards in every direction – before cautiously entering the main road from a side street feeder. Then creep forward, very slowly – like a 3,500 lb. Roomba. Imagine every other car on the road doing exactly the same thing.
Voila. The Automated Car Future.
“Aggressive” acceleration is out for both politically correct as well as liability reasons. No more passing. There will just be getting in line. And what are lines for?
Ask anyone who lived in the old Soviet Union.
The lawyers will see to this.
